Our 2 week Japan vacation

Posted on October 7, 2015

We’ve been back from our 2 week Japan vacation for about 1.5 week now. For some reason the 2 weeks in Japan felt much longer. I guess that happens when you’re on vacation. 🙂

I’ve been to Japan numerous times for business previously. I usually tagged on a few vacation days at the end of my trips so I could travel around the country. This was my first time to be traveling in Japan for 2 weeks completely on our own schedule. We had a great time in Japan and really loved the country, especially all the different types of food. As mentioned in my traveling with a toddler in Japan post, traveling with a toddler offered some challenges. Adapting traveling plans and schedules to Baby T was a good idea. After two weeks battling with the crowd constantly and hearing noises on speakers whenever we were outside, we were ready to come home to Vancouver.

Slower pace travel We decided to travel on a slower pace since we’re traveling with Baby T. We visited the following cities – Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, Hiroshima, and Fukuoka. When I traveled along in Japan, I was definitely moving at a faster pace. The slower pace was nice though, allowed us to relax and enjoy our time. It also provided lots of flexibility so we could alter to our plans.

4 nights in Tokyo We flew into Haneda Airport with ANA on a Boeing 787 Dreamliner. I love flying into Haneda because it’s so close to Tokyo. We managed to get out of the airport in 30 minutes after landing and converted our Japan Rail Pass before the JR office closed for the day. Whenever I flew into Narita Airport, I’d always encounter long lines at border & customs. Not to mention that it would take about 1.5 hour on the Narita Express to get to Tokyo. Given the choice, definitely fly into Haneda.

We stayed in an Airbnb house for the first 4 night. It was close to the Mejiro train station on the Yamanote line, which meant we could get to the major train stations in Tokyo very easily. We picked Airbnb because it was significantly cheaper than staying at a hotel. The Airbnb host was very friendly and gave us a lot of tips and local attractions that we wouldn’t be able to find in our guide book. We definitely felt like we were immersed in the Japanese culture. This is why I’d highly recommend Airbnb. You can sign up here and get a $26 referral credit.

The highlights on this portion of the trip would be checking out Meiji Temple, going to the sumo tournament, and going to Disney Sea. Meiji Temple is situated inside a forest. To get to the temple, you have to walk through a long forested path. Definitely very zen. Here are some pictures from Meiji Temple:

As it turned out, there was a sumo tournament in Tokyo when we were in Japan. We pre-booked tickets and checked out this traditional Japanese sport. I was amazed how much physical contacts there were during a match. The sumos probably took more beatings during a match than boxers during a boxing match.

When we were in Disney Sea, it happened to be during their Halloween celebration. We were pleasantly surprised to see so many people dressing up as characters (i.e. Cozplay). In fact, we weren’t able to differentiate the visitors and the theme park workers.

Dressing up as Belle from Beauty and The Beast. She’s a visitor of the park.

5 Nights in Osaka After 4 nights in Tokyo, we took the Shingansen train to Osaka. For this portion of the trip we splurged and used the Marriott points that I accumulated through business travels to stay at the Osaka Marriott Miyako Hotel. Our hotel room was on the 46th floor which offered an excellent view. Because I got upgraded as a Marriott gold elite member, Mrs. T and I received complimentary club lounge access. We were able to get free breakfast and free afternoon tea during the entire stay. This was not expected and definitely saved some money for us.

Glorious view.

Fancy. 🙂

We checked out a few attractions in Osaka and managed to meet up with a couple friends of ours and also Jeremy, Winnie, and GCCjr’s from Go Curry Cracker. It was great talking to Jeremy and Winnie’s about financial independence and their FI experience so far.

Dotonbori in Osaka

We also made a few days trips to Kyoto to check out some of the major attractions. Because it was Japan’s silver week where the entire nation is off for 5 day, we encountered a lot of people in Kyoto.

Crowd on a non-busy day! Now imagine what it was like during silver week with 3-4 times more people.

3 nights in Hiroshima After Osaka, we went to Hiroshima for 3 nights and stayed a hostel. I stayed at the same hostel years ago and had a great time. We stayed in a Japanese style private room for 1/3 of the cost of a typical hotel room.

To safe money, we walked all over Hiroshima instead of taking tram or bus. The Hiroshima Peace Park was a nice place to walk around with a lot of sad histories.

A-bomb dome

Hiroshima Peace Park

Hiroshima Castle

We took a day trip to Miyajima Island to see the famous floating torii gate.

Because we are crazy foodies, we rode on the the Shingaensen train for an hour one night to go to Fukuoka just to check out yatai (food stalls). It was worth the trip!

2 final nights in Tokyo We spent our last two nights in Tokyo to check out some attractions that we missed. We previously booked an apartment through Airbnb but the host canceled on us 4 days prior to our arrival. Instead of spending time on the computer to find another suitable Airbnb place, we decided to use my Marriott points for one night and pay for the other night. Our return flight was at 9 PM. Thanks to my Marriott status, we were able to get a late checkout time of 6 PM. This allowed us to tour around Tokyo on the last day of the trip then returned to the hotel to freshen up before heading to the airport. It was an added benefit.

Markets During the trip we checked out many Japanese traditional markets. It was really cool to see the different items that are up for sale.

Not sure what this is about…

Food The best part about our Japan vacation? All the delicious food that we had. We had A LOT of ramen, sushi, and sashimi. And of course many other Japanese dishes too. We stayed away from western food completely. Who wants to eat Italian and pizza in Japan right?

Now we’re back in Vancouver, both Mrs. T and I really miss ramen.

Matcha tea

Okonomiyaki

Overall Impression Overall, we loved Japan. It’s a great place to visit for vacation. I’ll probably go back there for business trips in the future. Would we ever consider moving to Japan when we reach financial independence? We might but it would definitely need to be living in a small Japanese town. The constant crowd and noise in big cities like Tokyo and Osaka really wears on you. Considering it’s super hot and humid in Japan during the summer, if we were to live in Japan, we would have to avoid summer.

Hi I’m Bob from Vancouver Canada, I am working toward joyful life and financial independence through frugal living, dividend investing, passive income generation, life balance, and self-improvement. This blog is my way to chronicle my journey and share my stories and thoughts along the way.
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23 Comments

Income Surfer

October 7, 2015 at 5:10 pm

Outstanding post Tawcan. Don’t apologize for all the high resolution photos. I’ve never been to asia, and live vicariously through you and your trips. Asia’s is definitely on my list, but we have a bunch of other traveling to do first.

My wife and I have a similar reaction to the crowds and noise of big cities, to what you expressed. It’s nice to visit, but I don’t think I could live there. She lived in Chicago for a couple years, and I’ve spent a lot of time in New York……but it wears on me after a while. I guess you can say I’m a “country mouse”. Glad you guys are home safe! -Bryan

Dividend Hustler

October 7, 2015 at 8:39 pm

That sounds like a wicked trip Tawcan. Glad the family had a wonderful time. The food looks awesome! Love sushi and sashima. Just love food! Glad everything worked out and your back sweet home. Thank you for sharing my friend. It’s trips like this and spending time with the family that makes life worth living. It’s to have more memories such as this and create new ones such as these is why we pursue Financial Independence through our passive investing. Cheers buddy.

Tawcan

Hi Tawcan I’m from Asia and japan happened to be our favorite destination.

Maybe you can try hakone next time, definitely suits your relaxed lifestyle and it is very relaxing to enjoy a day or two at the city. The best part is it is very easily accessible via shinkansen from tokyo. Perhaps you can try that next time.

Tawcan

October 8, 2015 at 9:43 am

Hi B,

We thought about going to the lake area by Mt. Fuji this time but that might be a bit of a stretch. I think hakone is close by too? Definitely on our list for next time. Would love to go to hokkaido too.

Awesome trip!! You make me want to go to Japan and experience it for myself. haha! 😛

I’m a bit nervous every time I travel to a country where I don’t speak the language, although after the trip, I’d miss the experience, the people, the food, and everything. I want to do the 88 temple walk in Japan someday, hopefully, it would be equally as rewarding.

That all looks amazing! Japan is such a different culture, must be very exciting each time. I agree that Tokyo and Osaka are probably not very pleasant cities to live in for a long period of time. I also need some peace at times.

Tawcan

Geoff

November 15, 2015 at 7:17 pm

I actually lived in Osaka for 5 years- When you go to the major shopping streets, yeah it’s busy. Go outside these areas, and it’s quiet and not packed with crowds. Osaka’s the food capital of Japan, the people are the friendliest and most outgoing of any city in Japan. it’s not very touristy, but for food and fun, it was an amazing place to live

Tawcan

November 16, 2015 at 3:57 pm

Hi Geoff,

Good point, I guess we spent most of our time in the major shopping streets in Tokyo and Osaka. The food in Japan was AMAZING. We loved that aspect. Would love to visit the smaller Japanese towns for future visits.

Geoff

November 16, 2015 at 7:09 pm

I loved Fukuoka as well, I’m glad you got to visit it. I think most people just visit Tokyo and Kyoto and think they’ve seen Japan. If you went to certain places in kyoto, you can wander amongst amazing temples and barely see anybody. Just don’t go on a Saturday or on a national holiday, then you’re asking for it!

Tawcan

November 17, 2015 at 10:35 am

We went to a few less touristy places in Kyoto and really enjoyed it. Fukuoka is a lot less touristy is seemed and it was great walking around.

wgmast01

October 9, 2015 at 7:43 pm

Awesome blog! I’d also highly recommend going in the winter to visit the snow monkeys (the only monkeys to ever travel far enough to live in the snow are in Japan). They’re quite amazing and made my trip, in addition to the delicious food and all the other reasons you highlighted above. Thanks for sharing.

Tawcan

I’m off to Japan for the first time next year but don’t think I will see much beyond airport and ski slope, although I don’t know what my family have got planned. I too love ramen, sushi and sashimi and am looking forward to the food!

I imagine the crowds in Japan are similar to the crowds in Hong Kong, although I guess the Japanese are more polite!

My mission is to show that financial independence is indeed possible for a family with kids while living in an expensive city like Vancouver.

My focuses include dividend & ETF investing, financial independence, early retirement, happiness, fruguality, and finding the right personal balance between saving for the future and enjoying life today.